Four lives intertwine on a single day in Los Angeles. Each pairing moves through various issues regarding gender inequality, the misuse of power, and familial pressure, until they shift into something different and unexpected.

CTRL details four relationships intertwining on a single day in Los Angeles, and how each moves through various issues regarding gender inequality, the misuse of power, and familial pressure, until they shift into something different and unexpected.

Doors open at 7:00 PM; show starts at 7:30 PM SHARP! An amazing gathering of 12-15 writers will read NEVER-BEFORE-READ material (rough drafts / debuts) within a three-minute time limit. Hosted by Zephir O'Meara with music by Chora Sea.

RAPID TRANSIT is a humorous and poignant romp down the rusting tracks of American public transit, filled with haunting and colorful characters—those we wish to embrace, run from, those we see ourselves reflected in. It begs the question: do we ever truly reach our destinations?

Join us at our Uptown, Oakland, location for an amazing evening of readings, live music, gnosh / refreshments, and friends of Nomadic Press as we launch four new 2018 Spring Chapbook Collection chapbooks byAlexandra Naughton, Jesse Prado, John Gosslee, and Kay Nilsson into the universe!

Readings by all authors and all books will be available for purchase and signing at the event ($10 each). Music by TBA!

Poetry, music, aerial artistry, burlesque performances, the Poetry Brothel Masquerade Tour is not an event to miss out on.

"The Poetry Brothel is a unique and immersive poetry event that takes poetry outside classrooms and lecture halls and places it in the lush interiors of a bordello. The Poetry Brothel presents a rotating cast of both male and female poets as “whores,” each operating within a carefully crafted character, who impart their work in public readings, spontaneous eruptions of poetry, and most distinctly, as purveyors of private poetry readings on beds, chaise lounges and in private rooms. For a small fee, all of the “poetry whores” are available for these sequestered readings at any time during the event. Of course, any true brothel needs a good cover; The Poetry Brothel’s is an immersive cabaret, offering a full bar, musicians, burlesque dancers, painters, actors, and fortune-tellers, with newly integrated themes, performances and installations at each event.

A. Razor is a lost soul with no fish bowl, a vagabond with inappropriate shoes, the place in the shadow where darkness just might find some light before dawn, a tattoo that represents death vs a tattoo that represents the missing life, plenty of blood & guts, plenty of inside out, turning into ourselves...turning...

Ham Coquette is very beautiful and very wise and very graceful and there is nothing you can say or do to take any of that away.

Mike Bushnell is out there. Working on something. Books = OHSO, 2014 Scrambler Books + Traumahawk, 2010, 6Gallery Press. He lives in Everett, Washington. Also, business! Yes! Business dollars and career paths, out there in Washington. While writing this bio he yelled out to himself: "What up?" Then he responded, "tell me about yourself." Then he said: "Yeah, this is direct from the source. I am out here. I am working on a bio right now. The superman outfit in this photo was one I wore for 11 months straight as a young spectral child." @iamaparty.

Rhea 'Alex' Smith, 24, cares more about infectious disease and exactly how it will slowly and efficiently kill you than whatever trick you've got up your sleeve. She may also eventually have her fingers in your mouth. Assuming some dental school will take her, anyway. Went to UC Davis for English and left with a degree in Biology (medical microbiology). When not writing, likely doing one of a variety of other things she does but cannot master. Here's to you, year-old pointe shoes. She published Tough and Tender on behalf of The Crybaby Club, much of her own work interspersed. And true to the club, she does cry. A lot. Look out for her next collaborative book, 'This May Hurt A Little' by the Intrinsically Difficult Collective.

Personally, I think poetry should be fun and I think readings should be more like parties and I'm tired of going to stuffy events. I asked Vernon if he wanted to collab on a poetry party with me and he was totally down. It's summertime and it's fun to do things outdoors and honestly, don't you just want to kick back and relax in a beautiful park in the city that you love and hear some poetry while eating a corn dog? I mean.

Anna Avery escaped Texas to participate in east bay poetry. Anna Avery's work has been featured by the de Young, 580 Split, Bombay Gin, and Elderly Magazine's "Not My Country". Anna Avery is a queer poet who lives in Berkeley, CA.

Cassandra Dallett lives in Oakland, CA. Cassandra is a two-time Pushcart nominee and Literary Death Match winner. She has been published online and in many print magazines, such as Slip Stream, Sparkle and Blink, Chiron Review, Stone Boat Review, and Great Weather for Media. Cassandra reads often around the San Francisco Bay Area, she hosts the monthly writing workshop OnTwoSix, and the quarterly reading series Moon Drop Productions. Her first full-length book of poetry Wet Reckless (Manic D Press) was released in 2014. In 2015, she authored five chapbooks one of them, On Sunday, A Finch (Nomadic Press) was nominated for a California Book Award, look for a new full-length collection Collapse from Nomadic Press in the fall of 2107.

Mallory Smart is a writer from Chicago, Illinois. Her work has appeared in Thought Catalog, Metatron, and Cosmonauts Avenue. Her new book, “i want to feel happy but i only feel___.” is available from ExpatPress now. Follow her @malsmart

Victor James Smith is a writer and artist living now in Oakland, CA, following a six-year long journey to discover an "authentic" way of "living" that took him from coastal Maine to frontier counties in Washington state and Nevada. He spent most of that journey in Nevada, where he worked in manufacturing and mining to put food on the table. He's always felt more comfortable when surrounded by nature, but he believes there's a special comfort experienced only in the desert, and this elemental experience usually finds its way into his work. You can find out more about Victor atwww.victorjamessmith.com